Tag Archives: Tofu

Last post, I mentioned I have made a stir fry with tofu. It was just what my veggie stir fry recipe needed. The stir fry is good on its own. But the tofu bumps it up a notch and adds more protein.

The hardest most time consuming part of this recipe is chopping the veggies. To save time, I have started buying shredded carrots. It’s double the price of the regular carrots, but this Li’l Mama needs some easy in her life. Can I have the STAPLES Easy button please???? 🙂

I digress.

You can use any veggies you have in your veggie crisper. I like to use chopped broccoli, shredded carrots, diced zucchini and diced red bell peppers. If you’re able to, you can buy the store bought chopped veggies (I’m feeling a little envious now…)

Here’s my little tip on the zucchini:
Cut it in half longways. Then use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and the guts. Then chop or dice the ‘chini. I didn’t do this for a long time and my zucchini was always mushy. I somehow figured out the scooping out the guts part and no more mushies!!!

Here’s another little secret. Sometimes I use rice and sometimes I use spaghetti noodles…and tonight I used penne noodles. Not very stir fry-ish, but I am all out of spaghetti noodles. For stir fry nights, I like to use spaghetti noodles every now and then.

I special ordered a case of safe spaghetti noodles and paid a small fortune to ship them… and they are LOST! 😦

Who needs $60 back anyway? $35 ish for the noodles. $25 ish to ship.

Ouch.

Note to self, always insure your noodles. 😉

Anyway, I mix up the rice and noodles to make the dish seem different.

Afterall, variety is the spice of life…

Or so they say. Who are they, anyway?

I digress.

Here’s how to make the food.

Chop some veggies and cook in a wok.

Veggies. The steam always fuzzes up my pics. Oh well. 🙂

Boil some noodles or throw some rice in a rice cooker.

Press some tofu and do a quick soy marinade.
Grill/sauté tofu ’til kind of crispy.

Grilled Tofu. Mmmmm.

Throw it all in a bowl.

Done.

See? Simple.

Tofu & Veggie Stir Fry

Now, for the actual recipe.

Simple Tofu and Veggie Stir Fry

Ingredients:

Chopped and diced veggies of your choice (I use an entire head of broccoli, 2-3 zucchinis, 1 red bell pepper and at least a cup of shredded carrots)

Extra Firm Tofu, Pressed Then Cubed

Rice or Noodles

Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce)

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Pinch of Ginger Powder

Other Stuff Needed:

Wok

Grill Pan

Bowl with Lid

Directions:

Drain and press tofu. Put tofu between two plates. Make sure to put a sheet or two of paper towels under tofu. Put something heavy on it like a big box of veggie broth. Leave it alone until step 4.

Boil water in large pot and add noodles OR start rice in the rice cooker.

Heat the wok on medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon coconut oil. Add veggies and cook, stirring frequently. If the veggies seem to dry, add another tablespoon coconut oil. When the veggies seem mostly cooked, squirt (squirt! I love that word!) some liquid aminos all over the veggies. Sprinkle some garlic powder and onion powder over the cooking veggies, too. Stir.

Tofu time! Take the tofu block and cut it in half. Cut the tofu into strips and then bite sized cubes. Take a bowl with the lid and squirt some liquid aminos in the bottom of the bowl. Add onion and garlic powder and a pinch of ginger powder. Stir with a fork.

Add the tofu cubes, put on lid and shake the tofu around. (I use a pyrex bowl.) Squirt a little more liquid aminos and add another dash of garlic and onion powder.

Heat grill pan on medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon coconut oil. Cook until tofu has nice grill marks and is nice and brown. Squirt 🙂 a little more liquid aminos on the tofu as it is cooking.

Serve as you wish. I put the rice or noodles as the bottom layer in a deep bowl, scoop in lots of veggies, and top with crispy tofu.

We also squirt! (heehee) a little bit more liquid aminos on the entire dish. There is no need to add salt to this dish because the liquid aminos does it for you.

Notes:
If you don’t have a wok, use a sauté pan. If coconut oil isn’t safe for you, sub a safe neutral oil, such as olive oil or something similar. If you don’t have a grill pan, sauté the tofu in a pan until crispy.

This has quickly become a family favorite. My 5 year old complained because she gobbled up her tofu immediately and wanted more tofu. My child loves it! And I hope you and yours, will, too.

I have modified the spices a bit. Feel free to change the spices to ones you and your family enjoy.

I also use homemade bread crumbs, but store bought breadcrumbs or panko would work well, too.

This breadcrumb mixture made more than enough for half a container of tofu. I think I could have used this recipe for the entire package, but I was hesitant to use all the tofu in case this didn’t turn out. But it did and my little family loved it!

So tonight, we are having the other half of the tofu and I’m making these crispy shake and bake tofu tenders again! Along with some garlic mashed potatoes and maybe some stewed fresh green beans. And some homemade vegan gravy for the taters and beans… Mmmm, mmm! I better hurry this post up so I can cook- it’s almost dinner time already!

1 package of extra firm tofu, pressed between two plates for about 20-30 minutes (do this in advance and cut the tofu into strips like chicken tender sized)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Prepare your flax eggs in a medium sized bowl and whisk with a fork. When the flax eggs are gelled and gooey, they are ready.

Take everything above the starred line and mix it together in a gallon plastic baggie- adding the oil last. I like to shake the dry ingredients together first and then add the oil.

Dip one tofu strip into the flax egg and then put it into the seasoned breadcrumb mixture and shake. Place the tofu strip onto a parchment lined cookie sheet (foil works, too, but parchment gives you no stick to the pan-ness! 😉 )

Repeat with each tofu strip. If you run out of flax eggs, you will need to make another one (1Tbsp of ground flax & 3 Tbsp of water)

Bake for 5 minutes. Gently flip the tenders. Bake for 5 more minutes. Flip tenders. Bake for another 3-4 minutes, or until tenders are crispy.

Notes:
Serve as you would serve chicken tenders, with a sauce or ketchup. (SG loves it this way.)
The Huzz and I prefer these crispy tenders cut up and served in a bowl along with other food. (Like in a salad or with a pasta dish with the tofu standing in for the chicken.)

It totally looks like chicken- but it doesn’t taste like it. The flavor is all in the crispy coating, so don’t be afraid to spice it up in the bag!

I hope y’all enjoy these crispy shake and bake tofu tenders. (I’m still working on getting my Southern back, y’all! I kind of lost it from living in Ohio and Iowa for so long!)